"Now," said he, "when I was on the cliff, yesterday, I
discovered that this island is inhabited. At a considerable
distance from the shore stood a marble palace, which appeared
to be very spacious, and had a great deal of smoke curling out
of one of its chimneys."

"Aha!" muttered some of his companions, smacking their lips.
"That smoke must have come from the kitchen fire. There was a
good dinner on the spit; and no doubt there will be as good a
one to-day."

"But," continued the wise Ulysses, "you must remember, my good
friends, our misadventure in the cavern of one-eyed Polyphemus,
the Cyclops! Instead of his ordinary milk diet, did he not eat
up two of our comrades for his supper, and a couple more for
breakfast, and two at his supper again? Methinks I see him yet,
the hideous monster, scanning us with that great red eye, in
the middle of his forehead, to single out the fattest. And
then, again, only a few days ago, did we not fall into the
hands of the king of the Laestrygons, and those other horrible
giants, his subjects, who devoured a great many more of us than
are now left? To tell you the truth, if we go to yonder palace,
there can be no question that we shall make our appearance at
the dinner table; but whether seated as guests, or served up as
food, is a point to be seriously considered."

"Either way," murmured some of the hungriest of the crew; "it
will be better than starvation; particularly if one could be
sure of being well fattened beforehand, and daintily cooked
afterwards."